Bay Lake Tower and Beyond : June 2018

Saturday, June 30, 2018

Full House

And here is the actual house used as the outside shots from Full House. We learned that the creator of the show bought the home in late 2016 and not only restored the outside to how it looked when those Full House shots were originally taken, but it in process of renovating the inside to look like the sets on the show as a tribute to the many devoted fans of Full House.

Painted Ladies

Here's our favorite guy in Alamo Square in front of the Painted Ladies made famous from their prominent inclusion in the Full House.opening.

Fort Point

Although we had already had a full day and we were quickly approaching the closing time for Fort Point, we pressed on to visit it since is located under the south end of the Bridge.

Not pictured is the disgruntled Ranger who slammed down a container at me and then locked me in the Fort. Good times!

Golden Gate Bridge (part 2)

We were then lucky enough to find a spot in the vicinity of the Golden Gate Bridge. We walked just a bit to arrive at the visitor center.

There was a cutaway section of the supporting cable. Here we are for perspective on its size.

Then we ventured onto the beginning of the Bridge. The fog that had been rolling in throughout the day had further intensified.

Although it was cold and very windy out there, we adventured on and crossed the entire length of the Bridge. Here are a few pics from along the way.

On the north end of the bridge, the views from Vista Point were also very nice.

Ghirardelli Square

Ghirardelli Square was a combination of Fishermans Wharf and Pier 39. Like Fishermans Wharf, we preferred the Ghirardelli at Disney's California Adventure. And, like Pier 39, Ghirardelli Square is full of eateries and shops since the Ghirardelli factory was moved out of the Square across the Bay to outside Oakland.

Although the actual factory was relocated, they did leave a small set of machines that demonstrate their chocolate making process.

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

Pier 39

Pier 39 is just a little east of FIshermans Wharf. A very touristy spot, it has a lot of eateries and shops, including a satellite Boudin's Cafe where we enjoyed a nice lunch. Here we are near the entrance.

A good view of Alcatraz can be seen from the back of the Pier. Looking forward to our visit on Monday!

Although the sea lions are sparse at the Pier this time of year due to mating season elsewhere, we spotted a couple of residents.

Fishermans Wharf

Fishermans Wharf was less exciting than we anticipated. Definitely the place to be if you like fresh seafood, but that's not our taste. There is also Boudin Bakery and Cafe, which includes a factory tour, but we preferred the Boudin location with factory tour in the Wharf section of Disney's California Adventure.

Lombard Street

On our walk back from the Cable Car Museum (and we walked ALOT today, but more on that later), we walked up to the curvy portion of Lombard Street aka the Crookedest Street in the World.

Cable Car Museum

We rode the cable car to - what else - the Cable Car Museum.

The museum is actually housed at the Power Station, where the machinery actual powers all four line across the city as pictured below.

We learned that the cables run continuously under the streets and are then distributed by sheaves, or smaller wheels with grooves.

The cable cars move when the Gripman uses the machinery on the vehicle to "grip" the moving underground cable, which then pulls along the cable car until the gripman releases the cable.

There were also displays of retired cable cars from over the years.

Cable Car

Next we rode on a Cable Car on the Hyde - Powell line. We boarded at the beginning of the Hyde line by the Bay. First, the Gripman manually turned the car on the turntable for the trip back up town.

Then, we posed for some pics while waiting for departure.

Golden Gate Bridge (part 1)

After staying in the suburbs last night, we ventured into San Francisco this morning. We had a great day with a lot of fun activity, which started with this view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Presidio.